Are you aware that around 80% people including women and men get stretch marks? Even though it might seem quite surprising still nobody wants to experience their skin getting spoiled by long, flat and dark lines. The only satisfactory feature of stretch marks is that they don’t poison our good health and thus is only a beauty related issue.
While many people face stretch marks, each of their issues is different from one another. The important thing to note about stretch marks is that they have distinct features and they may vary according to the skin type of a person, or the reason for its occurrence and lastly the region that is affected by it. So, there are many types of stretch marks.
Now we know that all stretch marks are not same. But before that lets begin with understanding the actual problem of stretch marks and how it appears.
What Are Stretch Marks?
Stretch marks are a kind of skin scarring that appears when your skin is enormously stretched. This significant amount of stretching damages the dermis of the skin that contains capillaries, nerves, hair follicles etc. The moment your skin is aggressively stretched, the layer made up of connective tissues gets disrupted and results in stretch marks formation.
Even though the skin possesses the absolute feature of being quite elastic and flexible yet it doesn’t hold itself much when the skin is abruptly stretched. So now we can see that sudden changes in the skin, affiliated with growth, causes stretch marks to arrive.
Growth can take many forms like pregnancy, when the women’s womb is expanding to make space for the baby or adolescence when some body parts are maturing and simply when a person is gaining weight or shedding sudden weight. Even though it may sound quite queer to get stretch marks when shedding weight but the promoting factor is really the rapid fluctuations of weight that invites stretch marks.
Now that we’ve discussed the actual issue of stretch marks, let’s move forward to the different types of stretch marks that invades a person’s body.
The Basic Types Of Stretch Marks
Striae Rubrae
It depicts the first stage of getting stretch marks when the skin indentations are fairly new after the skin is stretched. The few things that happen when you get striae rubrae is that the epidermis straightens a bit and the collagen becomes stiff, arranging itself in a similar pattern. Lastly, the elastic fibers also diminish in number.
Another inconvenience this type brings is the itchiness of these stretch lines. Initially the lines are flatly engraved inside the skin and gradually they increase in length and width. Also, the color they take is in the form of red and purple indicating the newness of the scarring.
Striae Albae
This type of stretch marks comes with aging of the scarring that is when your scars mature with time, they come under this type of classification. The stretch marks are more distortedly shaped and have faded white pigmentation. Their texture is very rough and wrinkly signaling the loss of skin’s elasticity.
Striae Gravidarum
There are also known as pregnancy stretch marks since they form because of pregnancy stretching of the skin. This particular type of stretch marks appears mostly on thighs, breasts and the stomach of the women when they reach their 6 or 7th month of pregnancy. Initially they appear as striae rubrae but with the progression of time they mature into white indentations and wrinkly skin.
Not only the type of stretch marks makes them appear different but they are also determined by some other factors. So, let’s get acquainted with them!
Factors That Influences The Type Of Stretch Marks To Appear
Stretch marks come in a variety of shapes and forms. The things that make them different from one another are also dependent on the body factors of the stretch marks victim. Let’s pay heed to these influencing factors.
Color Of The Stretch Marks
Stretch marks don’t have a designated color. At the beginning the look like red and purple lines which symbolizes them as being fresh. With time, they fade into a more white and cream complexion since they become more mature.
Area Affected By Stretch Marks
Stretch marks can appear on any part of the body that is experiencing growth. But for some places of the body parts they develop more prominently like breasts, thighs, stomach and back. Back stretch marks are formed in a similar long pattern appearing as zebra lines. Whereas the stomachs stretch marks might be scattered and are flat in shape.
Conclusion
Now we know, stretch marks have an influencing history related to its type and there are multiple factors that determine each of its kind. On a side note, we know stretch marks restrain us from living our lives with confidence but still they don’t cause any health issue. So whatever type you are experiencing, you can still look for the solutions to treat your stretch marks.